51 pages • 1 hour read
Nicola SandersDon't Let Her Stay
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Joanne Atkinson
Content Warning: This novel contains descriptions of emotional abuse, death by suicide, and stigmatizing and potentially offensive language and stereotypes regarding people with mental health conditions. Its contents are reflected in this study guide.
Joanne Atkinson is the novel’s first-person narrator and protagonist. Joanne is a first-time mother to her four-month-old daughter, Evie, and lives with her husband, Richard, whose income supports them both. Joanne left her real estate job to be a full-time mother in a large countryside house, where they moved when Joanne was pregnant. Before Chloe’s arrival, Joanne’s primary conflicts are internal, as she experiences loneliness and insecurity as a result of The Isolation and Challenges of Full-Time Motherhood. Joanne is lonely and initially excited to meet Chloe, “fantasizing non-stop about the two of [them] becoming close” (32). However, as soon as Chloe arrives, she begins to pick at Joanne’s insecurities, like Joanne’s age, inability to breastfeed, and feelings of unattractiveness in her post-partum body. Joanne’s isolation and loneliness make her vulnerable to Chloe’s gaslighting. Chloe’s gaslighting and Richard’s denial often work in tandem against Joanne, emphasizing her isolation. Throughout the novel, Joanne battles with Richard over Chloe’s behavior. When Joanne attempts to stand up for herself to Chloe, Richard, or both, they dispute her experiences. For example, both use Joanne’s family history of post-partum psychosis to undermine and isolate her. This also illustrates the dangers of accepting stigmas about mental illness, for example, that the reported experiences of people with mental illnesses cannot be trusted.
Chloe’s gaslighting creates further stress for Joanne. Joanne’s increasing self-doubt put herself and Evie in danger, emphasizing The Effects of Gaslighting. Richard’s refusal to see the truth about Chloe’s intentions increases Joanne’s distress and self-doubt, reinforcing The Dangers of Denial, even for people, like Joanne, who acknowledge the truth. Richard and Chloe’s insistence that Joanne is paranoid and forgetting things make Joanne question her own judgment, endangering herself and her daughter. Her clouded judgment leaves her vulnerable when Chloe pretends she’s been trying to help Joanne all along. She welcomes reprieve from her isolation, changing her mind about whom to trust with just a small amount of kindness.
Chloe Atkinson
Chloe is Richard’s 20-year-old daughter, who, at the beginning of the novel, is estranged from Richard because he remarried. Chloe returns to Richard’s life through a letter saying she wants to get to know her baby sister, Evie. Chloe’s personality is difficult to nail down for much of the novel because she alters her voice, behavior, and mannerisms according to who is around. For example, Chloe’s voice is “girlish” and “sing-song” when she’s around Richard. She’s affectionate with him and refers to him as “Daddy.” However, when Joanne and Chloe are alone, her voice is “[l]ower. More natural” (38). Chloe’s changing voice indicates early on that she is manipulative and untrustworthy.
For most of the novel, Joanne sees Chloe as antagonistic, though at times the narrative suggests that she may be misinterpreting events. As Chloe’s gaslighting efforts increase and Joanne learns more about the circumstances of Diane and Sophie’s deaths, Joanne suspects Chloe killed them and may be trying to kill her and Evie. However, Chloe uses Joanne’s suspicions to create separation between her and Richard, acting innocent and sweet in front of her father. Chloe’s use of Evie to make Joanne look unstable emphasizes The Isolation and Challenges of Full-Time Motherhood, as she uses Joanne’s concern for Evie to isolate her from Richard. In the final act, Chloe uses this distance between them to flip Joanne’s trust in her by recasting every event so far to make herself appear as the hero of the story. Joanne’s eventual trust reveals Chloe to be a skilled and wily manipulator and illustrates The Effects of Gaslighting.
The extent of Chloe’s gaslighting only becomes clear at the very end of the novel, when Helen reveals Chloe has a mental health condition and is a criminal. It is important to note that people experiencing mental illness are far likelier to experience crime than to perpetrate it. Still, Helen’s revelations about Chloe in the final chapters reveal that Chloe actively gaslighted Joanne and Richard throughout the story, enticing readers to reconsider all the events of the novel in a new light.
Richard Atkinson
Richard is Joanne’s husband of almost two years and Chloe and Evie’s father. Richard is nearly 20 years Joanne’s senior, in his early fifties. As a business owner, Richard is often busy with work, leaving Joanne alone in the mansion-like house he bought for them in the countryside. At the beginning of the novel, Richard is sweet and loving toward Joanne, and he’s optimistic about the idea of Chloe coming to stay so they can be one big happy family. However, as the novel progresses, the narrative increasingly suggests that he is not only unfair toward Joanne, but also untrustworthy. For example, Richard uses Joanne’s mother’s post-partum psychosis to undermine her suspicion of Chloe. Ironically, this undermining of his wife ultimately leads to his death, as she no longer trusts him by the time he realizes his mistake. The fact that Richard has already been through a similar situation before with Diane’s death illustrates the depth of his denial, not recognizing the similarities until it is too late. He acknowledges at the story’s climax, when he tells Joanne, “Diane tried to tell me, you tried to tell me.” (239). Rather than acknowledge Chloe’s cruel, manipulative nature, Richard repeats the mistakes he made with Diane, emphasizing The Isolation and Challenges of Full-Time Motherhood.
Richard’s denial of Chloe’s manipulation, bad attitude, and suspicious behavior puts him in direct opposition to Joanne, putting him in the position of foil. Rather than confront this reality, Richard shames Joanne for thinking the worst of Chloe and accuses her of having a mental illness. This anger and harsh treatment escalate as Joanne grows more suspicious and fearful of Chloe, driving a wedge between the couple and ultimately leading to his death in Chapter 43. Further, it puts Joanne and Evie in lasting danger at the end of the novel. Due in part to his denial, Joanne changes her opinion of Chloe. She has no reason to trust Richard, who has denied her version of reality for weeks. Richard’s death is a direct result of his denial and emphasizes the theme of The Dangers of Denial.
